ARG: The Traveler

An alert member of Unfiction has stumbled upon The Evergreen Foundation, an organization that is “united and driven, not just by civic responsibility, but also by a moral imperative to contribute to the peaceful continuance of a society that is free from fear,” by developing technologies to increase the effectiveness of information gathering and surveillance.

Sound a little nefarious? Well, it should. Seems that if you dig a little into the site’s extranet, you’ll discover that something has escaped from their Genetic Health Care Center in Palmdale, and it looks like it’s killing local animals. A little further digging around reveals immediate links to other websites, including Resurrection Auto Parts (Serving Travellers Everywhere), Hollis Martial Arts, and the personal webpage of an industrial designer and motivational speaker named Judith Strand. On her site, she mentions having made the recent aquaintance of a “man who travels great distances to find a larger truth.”

All of this seems to be related to an upcoming novel, “The Traveler” by John Twelve Hawks. Whether this turns out to be a little backstory to the novel or an actual Alternate Reality Game remains to be seen, but geez. An evil genetic research company, an escaped test subject, a world spanning multiple websites……it’s got all the classic pieces (although the direct links at the bottom of the Random House page are a little non-subtle). Let’s just watch and see how they are played.